Saturday, January 22, 2011

Thomas Hart Benton




Missouri's first Senator, Brother Thomas Hart Benton (1782 - 1858), maintained a strong Unionist stance in a predominantly pro-slavery, pro-South state.  Becasue of this unpopular view, he ultimately lost the senate seat he had held for thirty years.  For this unyielding and courageous stance, John F. Kennedy selected Benton as one of only eight men worthy of inclusion in his heralded book, Profiles in Courage.

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